Altar/HD
]] Bloodstained Altars dedicated to the fickle goddess Kali can be found scattered throughout the caves. So long as Kali isn't too unhappy with you, you can earn favor by leaving stunned or dead bodies as offerings upon the altar. This increases your hidden 'favor rating' which will incrementally earn you useful rewards as it rises, including items and health. However, destroying an altar (or even simply allowing an altar to be destroyed) will anger Kali, reducing your favor standing with her. If her anger surpasses the favor you've earned, she will inflict dire punishments upon you that will increase in severity if you continue to offend her. Altars may generate at random in any of the five main areas of the cave, but never on the first level, in Olmec's Lair, King Yama's Lair or in most bonus levels. A guaranteed altar will be found near the exit of the Haunted Castle, shaped like a giant throne. Favor The amount of favor won from a sacrifice depends on the 'value' of the offering. Generally, more dangerous enemies are worth more, and Kali prefers them stunned, rather than dead: Notes *A Spelunker will be accepted as a sacrifice if they land upon an Altar while stunned. The favor will still be rewarded, but you will not be able to benefit from this unless resurrected by the Ankh or playing with another player in co-op mode. *In practice, the Shopkeeper's stun time is usually too short to allow him to be sacrificed alive, but it's possible - albeit risky - to lure him above an altar and stomp him so he lands stunned upon it. *Despite being quite powerful, Vampires and Mantraps are worth the least favor because of the very little blood they contain. *If a Mantrap eats a Shopkeeper, if you're fast enough you can place the stunned mantrap on the altar. Both will be sacrificed at once, giving you their combined favor value. This is usually very dangerous, as Shopkeepers will explode out from inside Mantraps alive and angry. *If you unlock a new Spelunker, you can pick them up and place them on the altar. The same can be done to other players. Corpses that cannot be sacrificed *The corpse of the Alien Queen is too heavy to carry and she is immobile whilst alive, but no Altar will ever appear in the Mothership anyway. *The corpses of Fire Frogs always explode before Kali accepts them as sacrifices. *Skeletons and Piranha Skeletons won't be accepted as sacrifices as they contain no blood. Rewards As you gain favor, Kali will reward you for your devotion. Rewards are given incrementally, with greater rewards given for higher levels of favor '8 Favor' "She seems pleased with you!" At 8 Favor, you gain a random Accessory from the following selection: *Kali will never give you an item you already own. *Having a jetpack will prevent the Cape from appearing, but having the Udjat Eye will not prevent the Spectacles from appearing. *If you already have every item on the list, then you are rewarded with a jetpack. **If you already have a jetpack as well, you will be given a bomb box instead. '16 Favor' "She seems happy with you!" At 16 favor, you receive the Kapala, which allows you to collect blood from enemies. Every eight drops you collect increases your HP by one. 'Further Rewards' "She seems ecstatic with you!" Finally, for every additional 16 favor you earn above that, you gain an extra 4 to 8 HP. Special Rewards Some sacrifices immediately grant certain special rewards when they are sacrificed, instead of increasing favor. *Sacrificing a Golden Idol will spawn a friendly Golden Monkey that poops treasure. *Sacrificing a Mystery Box will spawn an Eggplant, as well as cause the level music to change to an 8-bit-esque tune. Punishments If a sacrificial altar is destroyed for any reason, Kali will blame you for it and your favor will decrease by eight points. If this causes it to fall into negative numbers, Kali will inflict a punishment upon you depending on how low your favor is. Once your favor drops below -8, you can no longer gain favor at all from sacrifices, no matter how many you make at an Altar. *Between -1 and -8, the head of Kali's statue will burst open and release 6 Spiders at once. *Between -9 and -16, Kali will attach a Ball and Chain to your leg. The ball can be destroyed by dropping it into lava or by crushing it with a push block, Crush Trap or shield, but it will reappear at the start of the next level. *When your favor falls below -16, destroying an altar will make the entire level dark and immediately summon the Ghost. If the level is already dark and the Ghost has already appeared, then the 'Spider' punishment will be used instead. Trivia *Altars feature in many Roguelikes (such as Nethack and ADOM) in which any enemy over the altar could be sacrificed, dead or alive. As such, Spelunky's altars are most similar to those in ADOM. *Additionally, the Ball and Chain punishment is seen in Nethack, with similar implications such as the need to carry it, and its potential use as a projectile. Category:Spelunky HD